"Paths are being created by taking them" Trekki's Profile

Hello and welcome to my travels here, on Virtualtourist :-)

Let me quote Albert Einstein. His words describe my travel philosophy and me much better than I can do so my humble English :-)

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose the holy curiosity.

This is how I live my life, how I prefer to work and how I travel. And this will always be what drives me, what sparks me, what I am burning for. I am not made for tour group travel: I would scream and feel suffocated the whole time. I am not made for masses: I would get claustrophobia. I am not made for discos and nightclubs: I would become deaf and blind.

My preferred travel style is to pack my things, get on a plane, bus, train or in my car and start exploring. Exploring to me means that I try to immerse into a country or destination as much as possible, feel it, breathe the spirit it emanates, talk to the locals, or not talk at all, learn as much as I can from whatever surrounds me and enjoy the atmosphere of a town, region our country. This means that I try not to race through a country or a destination but stay there for a couple of days to get an idea of where I am and develop a feeling for the place. Luckily I have 30 plus days of holiday to spend, like most of my compatriots.

Maybe my travel habits have developed this way because I used to stay in 5-star hotels during business travels; I simply cannot stand them on my private tours any longer. Apart from that: luxury travel is just absolutely not me. In addition, wherever I have been on business trips, I was being dragged to the famous places, taken to first class restaurants and then dropped back to the hotel. I was in Rio de Janeiro several times for example but I never was really there, because I could not spend time to wander around. This is maybe a reason why I don’t like the famous places and destinations but prefer the lesser known ones: there I can wander around, can have my own slow pace, find details and pieces of history.

Another reason why I like the lesser known destinations is very simple: I don’t like when countries are being “reduced” to three or four famous destinations only. So no off-the-rack stuff for me please. I am absolutely no “mainstream” traveller but do the things I like and very often I find the most marvellous sights.

I like cities, villages, towns, hamlets, and nature – everything that is not yet overrun and still has kept an authentic atmosphere. In other words, anything that radiates harmony, peace and serenity. This can be special architecture, rural little towns with just the right amount of wildflowers or scrub growing in gardens, on houses or walls and also churches which are out of the “norm”. I found that I like the grand architectural treasures of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance.

The Italian regions of Umbria and Marche are good examples. I was travelling through Umbria during three weeks in April 2008; it was one of my most magic trips. I didn’t see anything “spectacular”, but the whole region felt so spectacular because it is so quiet, so peaceful, so harmonic and because it holds many exciting discoveries literally around every corner. Like my most favourite town of all, my beloved Gubbio. In the following years I have discovered more of Marche and just cannot wait to go back and find more fascinating places in the middle of Italy.

I found “my” countries and this means that I will not keep records of countries I have visited or lists of UNESCO sites. Although I see the idea behind UNESCO sites, I prefer to define my personal heritage on our planet. I also don’t need to see the Seven Wonders of the World because I define my personal wonders. All these I can easily find in my preferred countries Italy, Germany and there the regions of Umbria and Marche, Rheinland-Pfalz and Bavaria to be precise.

Colours of white, blue and green give me peace. Colours of puffy clouds, water and green plants and trees. Wildflowers in all colours of the spectrum. Windy and rainy regions, old stone houses, old wooden houses, castles and fortresses, thick forest, rivers. Historical and religious events throughout Italy. Charming authentic people who are proud of their traditions and values. Delicious local food, Italian caffè.
This is my world during travels.
This is where I am.
This is where the words of Goethe's Easter Walk "Here I am Human, here dare it to be!" give sense and a meaning.
This is where I do not need to play that ridiculous "super" business person-knows-it-all role I am expected to play in the daily zoo or comedy theatre.
This is where I am surrounded by humans and not by the clone army.

Einstein wrote about the awe when contemplating the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the structure of reality. This is what I find in all my travels now and more and more just every day.

Live my five senses every day. This is my goal. I am getting there. And I have this every single day whenever I am in Italy.

See something magic, be it a magnificent sunshine and cloud scenario after a thunderstorm. See the life in the people on the streets. See kids playing. See people chatting. See the colourful flags decorating Italian towns during the festivals. See the colours of a rainbow after a storm. See the colours of sunset and sunrise. See the spring colours exploding. See how the earth wakes up at 5 in the morning and how the colour shades change every minute. See sunflower fields in summer. See poppy in the fields in summer. See how red-currant berries turn red.

Hear the bells in Gubbio every fifteen minutes. Hear my Campanone. Hear the sound of silence when I am somewhere walking in the forest. Hear the ripple of a little creek. Hear the birds sing. Hear people chatting. Hear cows moo-ing (and think of fresh milk). Hear stones of houses talk about their history. Hear classical music and Latino music. Hear the wind howling.

Taste the first caffè in the morning. Taste the delicious meals in Redibis restaurant in Bevagna and weep of joy. Taste delicious Sagrantino wine in Umbria. Or taste delicious house wine anywhere else in Italy. Taste tiny green wild asparagus. Taste strawberries. Taste fresh water from a spring in the mountains.

Smell the aroma of caffè inside and outside every caffè bar in Italy. Smell the overwhelming aroma of the wildflowers. Smell lilac. Smell the aroma on the piazza in Gubbio. Smell fresh cut grass. Smell the air after rain. Smell mushrooms in the forest. Smell the sea breeze. Smell lemons from Amalfi.

Feel the affection of the people I meet along my travels. Feel the raindrops on my skin. Feel the sun on my skin. Feel the grass under my naked feet. Feel the cooling water of a little creek. Feel the coolness of the stones of old houses in Italy. Feel the love people in Gubbio have for their patron saint Sant’Ubaldo. Feel the heart beat when finding something new and excited. Feel the softness of a stone which water sculptured. Feel the passion of people living their traditions, their culture, their values.

Find yet another new discovery, a church, a hermitage, a charming town, sweet people, a marvellous view.
Find yourself.

Be. (and not play roles or do what others so just to be hip or in)

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